


smile (for the camera)!

by thishasbeencary



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Competition, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kings on Ice Zine, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 14:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thishasbeencary/pseuds/thishasbeencary
Summary: Phichit was excited to go to South Korea to compete, but was even more excited to spend time with Seung-gil and to have the opportunity to actually spend time with him, and not just on video. It was the first time this season that they had any real time together.





	smile (for the camera)!

**Author's Note:**

> this was my fic for kingsonice zine. thank you so much for the amazing opportunity to participate <3 it was looking into seungchuchu on and off the ice - good and bad.

“They’re getting bigger!” Phichit insisted, holding one of his squirming pets closer to the camera. Seung-gil made a huffing noise.

“Phichit, they’ve _been_ full-grown. If they’re still growing, that just means that you’re overfeeding them,” Seung-gil responded. In the bottom edge of the camera, Phichit was able to see the movement of his hand.

“I would _never_ ,” Phichit answered, overdramatically throwing a hand over his heart. Doing so, he dislodged the hamster that was trying to climb on top of his head, and he laughed, grabbing him so he didn’t fall to the ground. He set the two hamsters back into his lap, the third still in his hand. “What about your dog? I know you have her, let me see her!”

Seung-gil laughed, his hand stalling for a second in her fur before reaching forward to readjust the camera, pulling it down so that his dog was in frame. He mumbled to her for a few seconds, and Phichit was able to pick up something about “food” and “say hi”, and her head popped up, barking at the camera. Seung-gil made a shushing sound, pushing her head down with the softest laugh. Phichit beamed. “I need to feed her. Wait a minute, we’ll be back?” Seung-gil hesitated until Phichit confirmed before he stood up, calling his dog after him.

He was gone for maybe five minutes, and all Phichit could hear were soft noises of movement from the background of his camera. He knew that Seung-gil’s kitchen was fairly close to where he was on the webcam, so it made sense that he could hear so much of what he was doing. Phichit took the opportunity to pick his hamsters up, depositing them one by one into their tank, watching them scramble to food, water, and the wheel. He laughed, glancing back at the laptop to make sure that Seung-gil hadn’t returned before he grabbed his phone and took a few pictures of them.

Phichit sat back down on his bed, pulling his laptop in front of him and flipping through his pictures while he waited for Seung-gil to come back to his own webcam. There was barking for a few seconds, and then Seung-gil came back, crossing his legs underneath himself again and pulling his laptop into his lap, adjusting his camera until it was at nearly the same angle as before. It shook for a moment as his dog jumped back into his lap, and Seung-gil made a few shushing noises, getting her to settle down.

“Are you excited to come here for the competition?” Seung-gil finally said after a few moments of silence, though his face remained unchanged. It was the little cues with Seung-gil, Phichit was learning. The small smile in his eyes, and the fact that he had thought to ask the question at all. They had very different personalities, with how subtle Seung-gil could be with his emotions, but Phichit was starting to pick it up.

“Yeah!” Phichit immediately answered in excitement, and after a pause from both of them, he continued, “I mean, of course I am. I mean, this is a _huge_ competition, Seung-gil, and for both of us to have been chosen? That’s so awesome! It means we’re really at the top of the sport.”

“There was no question of that, Phichit. We’ve both placed in competitions already, and won medals. We wouldn’t be in this competition if we weren’t the top,” Seung-gil interrupted, calmly stroking his dog. How calm he actually was was hard to tell.

“And competing at home?” He changed the subject instead, to something that he knew was more personal to Seung-gil. Competing in South Korea had to be a big deal for him.

“They’ll support me. So I need to make them proud. I should really be focusing on that right now not…” Seung-gil frowned, motioning around himself, and Phichit shook his head.

“It’s late, Seung-gil. You can’t skate right now, so there’s no problem talking to me over the Internet. Plus, we have to make plans! Are you going to pick a good restaurant for us, the night I get there? I’m getting there a day early, so we have plenty of time to hang out then! And I’m also staying a few days after, so think of places to show me!” Phichit was excited to go to South Korea, but was even more excited to spend time with Seung-gil and to have the opportunity to actually spend time with him, and not just on video. It was the first time this season that they had any real time together.

“I’ll pick somewhere for dinner, and I’m sure we’ll be able to find plenty to do the extra days that you’re here,” Seung-gil answered, looking off-screen at something for a moment before sighing, looking back to the camera. “I need to go, Phichit. I need to take my dog on a walk and get her to sleep. I’ll talk to you later?”

“See you next week!” Phichit agreed, blowing Seung-gil a kiss, which Seung-gil accepted with a small smile, before both of them hung up.

The next week, Phichit was on a plane to South Korea, basically bouncing with excitement. He went to the hotel with Celestino first, putting his bags away and making sure that his costumes and skates were ready before he grabbed his key and his skates, calling out to Celestino that he’d be back later that night and texting Seung-gil that he was on his way down.

He was able to find his way to the restaurant pretty easily with the directions that Seung-gil had given, and when he got there, he immediately saw Seung-gil standing outside, looking at something on his phone. Phichit walked up behind him, texting him where he was. Seung-gil turned around and made a small gasping noise under his breath in surprise of how close Phichit was. Phichit laughed, taking the opportunity to kiss Seung-gil in greeting.

He grabbed Seung-gil by the waist, pulling him up against his side with a smile on his face. “Smile!” Seung-gil only turned his head toward Phichit, which Phichit used to his advantage. He pressed his lips quickly against Seung-gil’s, turning his head fast enough to catch the small smile on his boyfriend’s face, taking a selfie.

Seung-gil rolled his eyes at Phichit, but still leaned into him to see what he was captioning the picture. “Using kisses for your own good now?” Phichit typed a quick caption (“It’s not all about competition! Look at this guy, even smiling for me! He’s happy to see me! :)”) and then turned his head to capture Seung-gil’s lips again.

“Of course not,” Phichit answered, grabbing Seung-gil’s hand to lead him to the restaurant that he had picked. Seung-gil was more familiar with the local cuisine, so it was a good idea for him to be the one to pick their food. “I just wanted a cute picture with my boyfriend! The only pictures I’m going to be getting for the rest of the week are you looking focused, or of you skating. And you’re great at skating, but I wanted a picture of _us_. And I wanted to kiss you.”

“ _And_ you wanted a picture,” Seung-gil continued, but he still smiled at Phichit, leading him into the restaurant. He walked up to the hostess, talking quickly before nodding his head, letting her lead them to their table.

“Are you ready to compete?” Phichit asked, looking around the restaurant. He’d not really been to Korea much in the past, so he was excited to see what Seung-gil wanted to show him. They were probably much different things that he would have seen if he wasn’t dating someone from the country.

“We’ve been training all year. Of course I’m ready.” Seung-gil wasn’t looking at him, and Phichit knew that that meant that he knew he was avoiding Phichit’s real question.

“But are you _ready_ ? For all the lights and the cameras, and to _compete_?” Phichit asked, and even though it wasn’t that different a question aloud, Seung-gil would understand. It wasn’t the first time they’d talked about it.

“As ready as I can be. I’ve trained. I know my steps. I’ve competed before, and I know that I can do it well enough to get a high score,” Seung-gil answered with a practice answer, and Phichit knew that was the best he was going to get from him. It meant that Seung-gil was nervous. He was too, so he wasn’t going to push him to explain that to Phichit.

“You’re going to stress yourself out, Seung-gil. You need to breathe, and have some fun! We’re not even allowed to be practicing today, not until they open the rink for us tomorrow. Have a day to have fun and go on a date with your boyfriend for the first time this year since we live in _different countries._ ” It was a lot to ask, and Phichit saw the appeal of curling up in his room and going through his programs in his head until he couldn’t ever forget them. But this was more fun. This was what he wanted to be doing here, at least a little bit.

Having fun. And their date was fun. Seung-gil ordered for both of them, and they were able to talk to each other for the whole meal, their conversation completely away from the competition waiting for them. Instead, they talked about themselves. Phichit made Seung-gil tell him more about his dog, and it somehow devolved into them showing each other pictures of their pets while Phichit tried to argue that his hamsters were obviously the cuter of the two, down to making a poll on Twitter about it.

The next day, though, they were separated almost all day, just seeing each other in passing when they were practicing. At competitions, Seung-gil was a completely different person. He didn’t like to be social, but was focused, and ready to only focus on the competition, to do the best that he possibly could. He greeted Phichit at practice, but then continued on his own, not paying him any attention.

Phichit didn’t mind, taking his time to interact with the rest of the skaters, catching up with them, and also focusing on his own skating.

Finally, the days came around for it to be time for them to skate. Their short programs went quickly, and they both were able to skate their hearts out. For their free programs, Seung-gil skated right before Phichit did, so Phichit stood by the side of the ice, waiting for him to finish. Seung-gil was focused with his skate, nodding to Phichit as he finished.

Phichit watched Seung-gil step off to the Kiss and Cry, tugging at the neckline of his own costume. It was almost time for him to skate. He wanted to watch for Seung-gil’s scores, but he didn’t have time. He breathed out, handing Celestino his skate guards and stepping out onto the ice, lapping a few times before he pulled himself into his opening pose.

He skated through his program carefully, having fun with it. It wasn’t just about the technical aspects. He had to skate like he loved it, and that’s exactly what he did. He listened to the bright sounds of his music and moved with it, smiling along his way. He loved to skate, and he loved his programs for this season. He knew that they had to be strong, so he had planned programs that would demonstrate his skill and his love for the sport to the best of his ability.

He and Seung-gil were at a similar level, but for opposite reasons. Seung-gil was good at everything technical, someone who could land jumps because he’d looked into the math of it all. He skated his programs almost mathematically, but sometimes the personality he put into them was… lacking. He was _such_ a strong skater, but he was so much more technical than anything else. Phichit, on the other hand, could land his jumps and do his step sequences, but it was more about personality. He wanted to have fun with his skating.

And maybe the mathematical technical programs was how Seung-gil liked to skate, but that wasn’t what Phichit wanted. He wanted to skate to music he loved, and every day have more fun with it.

They had different personalities, different views of practically everything, but they made it work. They both loved unconditionally. They loved each other; they loved the ice. All of the little problems were secondary when there was something so strong between them.

Neither of them medaled, the spots on the podium taken quickly and easily by Yuuri, Yuri, and Viktor. Seung-gil frowned at the results, and Phichit walked over to wrap his arms around his waist, staring at the screen as well. Of course he’d wanted to win, but they’d skated their hearts out. Whether or not they had actually medaled… There were a lot of other competitors. There were so many people in this competition that had been skating for longer, or had built up more skill, or were better at including every part of what they needed to medal.

There were opportunities for them to medal still, but this was a disappointment. There would always be a part of him that wanted to be on that podium, especially if he could be there with Seung-gil, holding their medals high. Proving themselves to their world and their countries.

But they had skated their hearts out and… that was all they could do for now. Other competitions, there’d be a more fair chance. Soon, they’d be at the top of the competition. Phichit hadn’t given up hope for medaling yet. He had come in sixth this time, but he was getting so much closer.

Seung-gil, though, came in fourth. Especially in his own country, it was clear that he was not pleased with that placement, no matter the competition. Seung-gil stared at his score, shaking his head. “If I had added another quad, I would have made it.”

“What if you hadn’t landed it?” Phichit asked. Quads were _hard_ , and Seung-gil had the technical skill to put another in, but he didn’t know if he had the stamina or the strength to handle it.

“It still might have been enough. I wouldn’t fall completely, the base score would have been enough to push me over them, maybe. At least over Plisetsky. His score was only a few points above mine...” Seung-gil was analyzing the scores, trying to figure out what he could have done to medal. Phichit could basically see the gears in Seung-gil’s brain as he calculated it, and he left him to it for a few quiet seconds. Their friends were still on screen, holding their medals high, and thanking the interviewers that were talking to them.

“Yeah.” Phichit stared at the scores for a moment longer, sighing and turning back to Phichit. “But… soon, Yuuri and Viktor probably won’t even be competing. Neither will Chris, or Georgi, or half of the skaters out here today. The sport’s going to change, Seung-gil, and we’ve still got time to change with it.” Phichit stared at his best friend on the podium, the way that the three of them held their medals high. They were proud of their accomplishments, as they deserved to be.

He knew it didn’t stop him _or_ Seung-gil from wanting to be them. “We’re still fairly young,” Seung-gil said, finally tearing his eyes off of the screen and turning to Phichit instead. Phichit nodded his head. “We’ll be here for a few more seasons at least.” They weren’t the youngest of competitors, not by far, but they were still younger than a lot, and in good shape. They still had time to desperately seek the podium.

“And a few more seasons is a lot of competitions. Gold medals for both of us!” Phichit bumped his hips against Seung-gil’s. Seung-gil frowned at the scores for a few moments longer before turning back to Phichit, who smiled, grabbing onto his hands. The competition was over, and they weren’t needed here any more. “Let’s go change, Seung-gil.” Phichit tugged on his hands. “We can get food, and you can introduce me to your dog. We’ve still got a couple days left together!”

“What am I, your tour guide?” Seung-gil teased, following Phichit to take off his costume and change into his tracksuit.

“Yeah, I guess you are. Now take me sight-seeing! Show me everything about your country! Take me to get the best food, and all the best places to take pictures. Including of your dog. And of you. Of us!”

“I don’t want to be blamed when you post more pictures than _usual_ on social media the next few days,” Seung-gil said in response, laughing at Phichit’s excitement. A real, true, genuine laugh that had Phichit laughing in response, squeezing his boyfriend’s hands happily.

“Oh, you won’t be. As long as you actually smile for some of my pictures.” Phichit teased, faking a swoon against Seung-gil. “Because, _otherwise_ , how will I ever possibly explain? My boyfriend took me all around South Korea, but couldn’t even smile in our selfies? It would be so sad.” Phichit was still teasing, though. Seung-gil smiled for enough of his pictures, it wasn’t like he was always stone-faced and bored looking. He was focused. And Phichit loved it, even when it meant that he was posting pictures of Seung-gil where their faces were nearly opposite expressions of each other.

“Well, if I don’t, you have a way to make me.” Phichit looked up in surprise to be met with a smirk on Seung-gil’s face which was… much closer than he expected it to be.

Seung-gil turned his head toward Phichit and pressed their lips together, holding him close. “You want to know a secret?” Phichit whispered, not moving far from Seung-gil, the words breath against their lips. “This trick works with me too.” Phichit smiled against his lips, leaning into the kiss. A few more days with each other, and then back to the stress and anxiety of competing.

Somehow, that didn’t even sound so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos/comments/bookmarks are always appreciated; i'd love to hear your thoughts
> 
> i actually have a half-written canonverse seungchuchu fic i might finish, more fluff and sweetness and skype calls. want it?
> 
> my blog is [yoyoplisetsky](http://yoyoplisetsky.tumblr.com/) . come talk to me or check me out!


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